How to Survive at the Academy Chapter 127

Joint Combat Practice 2 (13)

If you open the entrance of the cathedral and go straight inside, the chapel comes out right away.

Accompanied by two escort knights, Clarisse walked straight down the aisles of the cathedral.

Ed and I parted ways and decided to move. She had so many things to do in an instant that she couldn’t even pay attention, but after the breakup with Ed, she felt a sense of anxiety creeping in again.

‘I have to come to my senses.’

However, Clarice immediately shook her head and stiffened her neck.

Perhaps the whole story of the whole affair is unfolding inside this Haksa Cathedral. This time, I moved faster than ever and entered the interior of the cathedral. It is a completely different episode from the past, which has been repeated countless times so far.

“Stop, saintess…?”

Upon reaching the hallway entrance, Taldarek the Third Seat, the Apostle of Telos guarding the entrance, blocked the way.

Clarisse is a saint who is currently favored by the Church of Telos and is said to be blessed with divine grace just by talking a few words.

I don’t know why, but I have a lot of scars and I’m tired… As far as her appearance goes, anyone can see that she is the saint.

“T… Weren’t you waiting for me at the Trix building?

“Get out of the way, Tal’darek.”

Saint Clarice, who was always benevolent and had a lively side.

However, with cold eyes, like an adult who has gone through all the hardships of childbirth… Clarisse ordered Taldarek to clear the way.

There is no sign of being surprised why there is an apostle of Telos here. Her dignity has changed to the point where you might wonder if she is the saintess you saw in the map of the Holy Land. That’s the only way to do it. She is a human being who has watched hundreds and thousands of people die dozens of times.

“Ha, but… Holy Lady. The Holy Emperor ordered…”

“I’m going to talk to the Holy Emperor myself, so get out of the way.”

With that said, Clarisse strode past Taldarek.

Taldarek momentarily stretched out his arm to say something, but Clarisse grabbed it by the wrist and looked up at Taldarek for a moment… He untied his hand again and went on his way.

The saintess’ escort knights who were guarding the back also noticed each other, and slowly followed Clarisse into the chapel.

-bang!

When I opened the door and entered, I could see the entire chapel at a glance.

The first thing you see in front is a huge podium. Behind it is a large stained glass window. The colorfully shining glass shows off its beautiful appearance by bathing in the sunlight. Engraved is a picture of a large angel handing out bread to people with his wings spread wide.

A huge pipe organ grandly stretches along the outer wall behind the podium, and wooden seats are lined up in front of it for worshipers.

There are no lay people in. However, there were plenty of high-ranking believers.

For example, they were Saint Eldain, Archbishop Verdio, and the apostles of Telos.

Seeing this, Saint Clarice’s heart was filled with excitement.

The source of the situation that I have been looking for so much, the people who have done all this, are all gathered here.

How many times have you wandered to get here? How many times have I had to look at the death of Ed Rosteiler, watch the demise of the academic, and hold on to my crumbling spirit.

He gritted his teeth, but did not show his emotions. She just spoke quietly, lowering her voice, forcefully reverberating through the hall.

“What are you doing here…?”

Above the podium, an artifact that resonates with the sealed Velbrok, ‘Velbrok’s Molar Necklace’ is shining. Luden, the original swordsman, took a piece of Valveroke’s broken tooth and made it into a necklace.

It is a legendary grade item that greatly increases the user’s magical power sensitivity and grants enormous resistance to all physical attacks, but it is not the only role.

It also plays a role in awakening the survival instinct of Valveroke, who is sealed in the deep sea below the island of Aken, and inducing him to break the weak barrier and jump out.

“Saint Clarisse…?”

Archbishop Verdio, who was inspecting the apostles in front of the pulpit, caught his eye. On the other hand, Holy Emperor Eldain was also sitting.

“Archbishop Verdio.”

Archbishop Verdio is like Clarice’s teacher. He gave Clarice, who had just become a saint, a lot of guidance so that she could have dignity.

In addition, he maintained a sincere appearance anytime, anywhere, and was respected by everyone. The people of Chenghuang Island all praised him as a devout believer.

Is that reputation a result of proving a sincere heart, or is it the result of thorough life-saving techniques that even merchants will cry about?

I can’t measure it until I’m here, but at least I can know that it’s not time to stay still.

“Stop everything you’re doing right now.”

Between the gray-brown hair, there are quite a few gray gray hairs mixed in, perhaps because of the traces of the years. Although his back hadn’t bent or his body weakened yet, he was at an age where he had to worry about the decline of his physical abilities.

Nevertheless, with his hands behind his back and his back straight, Verdio spoke leisurely to Clarice, whom he had met for the first time in months.

“No way, I didn’t know that the saintess would come to the cathedral first…”

“I won’t say the same thing twice.”

Clarisse glanced around. How long will it be until the Holy Changryong, Velbrok, is resurrected?

I couldn’t figure it out right now.

“Do you know what I’m about to do…?”

“You must be trying to resurrect the Holy Changryong.”

“Oh,” said Verdio with a smile. It was clearly different from the solemn and benevolent smile seen in the Seonghwangdo.

How did you know that is not something to question now. Regardless of whether there was a traitor or someone planted inside, if the saintess knew the truth about her, things would go wrong in an instant.

“Archbishop Verdio, I thought you were a conscientious believer who only thought of the Holy Spirit.”

“That’s right. I live only thinking about the success rate.”

Verdio looked at the ceiling and breathed without unfastening his back pockets. The stained glass that spreads out behind the podium shines in the sunlight.

“Expansion of church is also a field of business. Faith is trust. The Holy God always exists above the sky, but the lowly people do not believe in it unless they show it.”

“So… I’m going to kill Seongchangryong and spread his favor…?”

“It doesn’t take long.”

“You don’t even think about the possibility of failure?”

After saying that, a possibility suddenly came to mind.

When Clarisse lowers her gaze, she sees a huge circle of sacrifice drawn underneath. that… It was a preparation process to put Valverlock to sleep using her unique divine power.

While St. Clarice was waiting at the Trix Hall, the Holy Emperor and the Archbishop were making these preparations at the Haksa Cathedral.

Clarisse’s cold eyes turned to the podium.

“Insurance… it was my life.”

Is it negative or positive?

Although I hoped that it would be denied on the surface.

“It’s just insurance. That’s in case everything didn’t work out.”

The expression of Archbishop Verdio, as cold as Clarice’s eyes… In other words, it is the appearance of a fanatic.

Clarisse has seen pagan fanatics. It was when he went out to comfort a village that had been attacked by the Ain tribe in the northern steppe.

It was already hard to see the zealots losing their reason and going wild. Those who are distracted by their faith and abandoned even ethics and morals are moving away from civilization.

Seeing that, the fanatics in Clarisse’s head were nothing more than eccentrics who had no common sense, could not communicate, and appeared close to mental illness.

However, that is a narrow perspective as it is.

Reasonable, dignified, conversing, always formal, and even the will is sublime… Those who set foot in the realm of fanaticism may also exist.

In the end, the key is how far you give up for your faith.

Respect for God has the power to save hearts, but we must never stop thinking about how far it is acceptable.

“Seonghwang-nim. Do you really think this is enough?”

Eventually, Clarisse’s eyes focused on Saint Eldain, who was sitting behind the podium.

A series of plans led by Archbishop Verdio… In the end, it wouldn’t have been possible to proceed without the support of Eldain, the final manager.

Even if he did not lead, he was a bystander. Wasn’t he the one who had the strength and power to stop Verdio?

That’s why Clarisse looks at the success with eager eyes… Archbishop Verdio was the one who saved Seonghwangdo from financial threats time and time again. That one has contributed far more to the prestige of the Holy Emperor than hundreds of thousands of followers.

Eventually, Seonghwang closed his eyes and lowered his head, and Clarisse involuntarily swallowed his breath.

Strangely different from anger, a hot emotion runs down my throat.

The sprout of ‘disbelief’ nestled in one side of the heart… whisper to her stop this calamity

The body went out first.

Climbing the stairs and reaching the podium, Clarisse reaches for Velbroke’s molar necklace, but Archbishop Verdio grabs her wrist and throws it away.

As the strength entered the clenched hands, a crushing pain surged from Clarisse’s wrists. Even so, Clarisse kept his eyes open and glared at Verdio.

“I’m sorry. Holy lady. It won’t take long, so please go to sleep.”

A rumbling sound came from behind Clarisse.

The apostles who had been sitting rose one by one and began to spread their wings.

* * *

Ed grabbed Adele’s wrist and strode away. He wasn’t riding in the direction of the cathedral, he was riding the roundabout way back to the side of the cathedral.

“Yes, not a very pleasant truth.”

After hearing the facts about the Holy Changryong from Clarisse, thinking about it, understanding it, stopping by other places to ask for help, and reaching this church, it took quite a while.

There was not much time left until the Holy Changryong was revived.

Ed listened to Adele’s explanation without missing a single one, even as he moved quickly.

“Archbishop Verdio has been like that ever since he was a rank priest. Calling the church tax. And making the storehouse of the saints leisurely. That was the way Archbishop proved his faith.”

“I don’t think he’s talented enough to be a priest.”

Adele shook her head as she struggled to catch up.

“It was real as much as the religiosity, but the methodology was just too extreme.”

“It’s called fanaticism in the world.”

“It’s hard to dismiss it like that… He’s also an overly rational person.”

rational. Ed clicked his tongue at that expression.

Adele’s description of the movement of the cathedral was so tongue-in-cheek.

The beginning is the coronation of Emperor Chloe. This great emperor is such a great person that he can be called a great man… He was known as the person who created the peace and prosperity of the continent centered on the Chloel Empire.

The majesty of the Church of Telos, which commanded the continent and increased the number of believers, was gradually declining into merchants who sold their faith little by little, buried under the majesty of Chloel’s family.

Of course, words are only declining, but there is no doubt that the Church of Telos is still the largest religious organization in the Empire.

Compared to the Church of Telos in Genesis, which was treated as a pagan on the outskirts of the continent, it has literally grown hundreds of thousands of times in size now.

However, did he regard the decline of the church as evidence of distrust rather than a change in the times?

Archbishop Verdio… They wanted to resurrect the dignity of the Church of Telos in the past when the blue dragons ran rampant and the demi-humans committed massacres.

So, miracles happen.

It was the intention to subdue the star spear dragon threatening the island of Aken and spread its glorious name throughout the Chloel Empire.

“Have you tried to convince me? You’re a prophet. Don’t you believe everything you say?”

“I… have already lost the trust of Archbishop Verdio.”

I didn’t ask ‘why’.

Although Adele has made many predictions, she has rarely conveyed them fully to the church.

They even hid the prophecies and even deceived them. The reason why she did not rise to the position of a saint was not revealed until the end, and she even fled at night while leaving the torch on the spire… It is safe to say that the church has already lost all trust.

“The Holy Emperor is also following Archbishop Verdio’s policy.”

“There’s no such thing as this guy or that guy or sane guy.”

“I was confident from the beginning. That’s a lot of power. The success is because I brought 6 of the ‘Apostles of Telos’, the largest group of magicians.”

Apostle of Telos.

The strength of each individual is also great, but as the number of people increases to two or three, the strength is multiplied dozens or hundreds of times.

This is because they share basic s*xual techniques, can give and receive enormous divine power, and have received joint formation and joint training.

If the five or more apostles of Telos are in good formation and provided with enough supplies and magic, it is said that the gates will not be breached even against tens of thousands of troops.

There are six apostles of Telos. Come to think of it, it was an excessively large combat force for coming to inspect the saintess. I couldn’t think of it as a simple escort force.

“In addition, unlike the world in the history books, magic has undergone tremendous development several times. The efficiency of holy magic has also been greatly improved.”

“So… you tried to subjugate the Holy Changryong by resurrecting it?”

Would it be right to say ‘arrogant’?

It is symbolic that the monster in distant history will be brought back to the present.

If you look at the records in history after time has passed, unfounded confidence springs up.

Monsters in mythology. From Minotaurs, Cerberus, Cyclops, Harpies to Leviathan.

All of them come out as terrible monsters that killed countless people in the books, but in modern times, it seems that they can be subdued at any moment by thinking of guns, bombs, cannons, ships, and tactical nuclear weapons.

Traditionally, history is distorted and inflated as it is handed down.

No matter how much he was the Holy Spear Dragon, he probably didn’t think of it as being capable of tearing the sky apart and slicing the ground.

However, few legends about Velbroke are false.

It’s just that there’s no way to confirm it because it’s an old memory that’s been over a few hundred years. The original Swordsman has long since died, and there is no one left who has seen the majesty of the Holy Changryong with their own eyes.

Aren’t the apostles of Telos a powerful enough group to deal with an enormous army? I’ve seen the scene exuding such great majesty over and over again… He must have thought that he would be able to subdue even Seongchangryong.

The cost of that arrogance is the lives of thousands of people. The land called Aken Island will be completely erased from the map.

“Listen, Adele. How many more times do you think you can turn back time?”

“I don’t know… I don’t know… My power… I’m almost exhausted…”

Looking back again, Adele was gasping for breath and was almost being dragged along. Ed checked Adele’s condition once again, then raised his thighs and carried Adele on his back.

“Ooooh!”

“Take a little break, and go back just one more time. Just give strength to your lower stomach.”

“yes…?”

Perhaps Adele is nearing her limit. No one can guess how many more times they can go back here.

In the first place, it was not going back to Adele’s own will, but the protection of the Holy Law imprinted on her body was to use Adele’s power at will.

“In the end, the core of the job is simple. Isn’t it just a matter of slapping the butts of the bastards who are doing nasty things in front of that bachelor’s cathedral?

“…”

“Archibishop Verdio is overly cautious about his fanatic subject, and he’s a man with a good brain. He never makes plans without a back. If Plan A doesn’t work, he’ll definitely have B and C prepared.”

“Senior Ed… do you know Archbishop Verdio…?”

never met However, you should know. There’s no way to even talk about it, so Ed just shook his head and ran down the boulevard.

“All we have to do is block all the exits so the rat can’t get away. He’s careful, so it’ll be tough the first time. So… we’ll see what he does.”

“Then… we…”

“Yes. I’ll cut the road, so there’s only one thing you have to do.”

We reached the back door of the Bachelor Cathedral. Ed set Adele down on a nearby bench and talked to her while looking into her eyes.

“remember.”

“…”

“I’ll definitely remember what he’s doing, and come find me. I’m sure I’ll be dumbfounded without knowing anything. But it doesn’t matter. I’ll come to my senses as soon as possible, figure out the situation, and draw the whole story… Trust me… Come to the terrace bench in front of Glockt Hall. Me and Jenika will be sitting side by side.”

Adele leaned against the back of the bench, struggling to control her weakened body.

“But… I’m almost out of energy… I can’t explain properly…”

“Saint Clarisse can explain it, so don’t worry unnecessarily.

“…”

“You said you wanted to live, right?”

Ed took off his coat, threw it on the seat next to Adele, and rolled up his shirt.

“Who’s going to save you just because you’re standing still? I’m wondering whether or not to survive even if I cling to my collar in an ugly way and struggle as I roll into the dirty mud…”

Adele’s pupils widen.

The fact that he didn’t cry while holding onto his father’s collar as he left and abandoned him is because he didn’t want to be alone… The childhood Adele, who did not complain that she was scared, overlaps.

“Surviving is originally about being so insignificant and filthy. Have you forgotten all about living as a saint while being supported in the Holy City?”

survive.

Maybe it was the only goal in life, but it was not reached in the end.

It’s not a far story for Ed either.

For him, every moment of his life spent at this academy was a struggle to survive.

“You know everything.”

“Still… the Apostle of Telos is not an opponent that can be dealt with by force…”

“Power? Force itself isn’t a big deal. Like I said, it’s a problem blocking all other escape routes that he might have hidden like a rat.”

“Force… is not a problem…?”

Are you saying this even if you know who the apostles of Telos are?

I wanted to answer like that, but Ed’s face didn’t show the slightest bit of anxiety.

* * *

– Clink.

―Quaaaaaaang!

It happened in an instant.

It was the moment when the apostles of Telos flew in to subdue the saintess.

One piece of the huge stained glass behind the podium is broken, and nearly half of it is shattered and collapsed. Shattered glass crashes against the marble floor, making an ear-piercing sound.

In an instant, the shadow in human form invaded the center of the chapel, snatched the two apostles flying through the air and pinned them to the center of the podium. It was a speed that even the eyes could not follow.

The shock from the landing was so strong that the wave alone knocked everyone around. The wooden mortuary chairs lined up for the worshipers all fell out and rolled on the floor, and the place was occupied by humans flying around like sheets of paper.

Soon, the aftermath subsided and the dust dispersed… The identity of the shadow appears.

The 5th seated Pelver, the apostle of Telos, was trampled on the floor, and the 7th seated Haveres was held up by the collar.

With one hand, I hold down the witch’s hat tightly, fearing it might get caught in it and fly away, and with the other hand, I grab an arrow several times my size and pick it up.

Her white hair, which had been rolled down in two strands, was rustling in the aftermath of the shock, and there was no strong emotion felt in her cold gaze.

Lucy Mayrill.

She immediately picked up the man she was holding in one hand and threw it toward the wall.

―Quaang!

―Kaaaaaaaaaa!

It hit the coffin of a gigantic pipe organ and fell straight into the keyboard.

The ominous sound of coffins echoed from the gigantic pipe organ that filled the cathedral’s outer walls. The sound that resonates as it hits the wall seems to tell of the coming of a disaster.

The clergy who looked up at the podium as they rolled across the floor of the hall held their breath.

Only half of the broken stained glass remains. The engraving of the benevolent angel wings is spread out behind Lucy, with only half left. It was cracked everywhere.

The gaze is still cold.

“Yeah… you bastard… now… what are you doing…!”

“I don’t believe in gods.”

The light coming down through the half-broken stained glass subtly illuminates Lucy’s diminutive body.

I don’t even feel emotion when I look down at the priests while stepping on one of the apostles.

“I think it’s right to say that if you commit a crime, you have to be punished. You prayer men aren’t always wrong.”

“What… What…? A sin… What… What…”

Verdio, who barely stood up after rolling on the floor, gritted his teeth at Lucy, who stood upright on the podium.

Lucy still speaks quietly, without even a change in tone.

“You guys have it all engraved on the temple and the dharma tools.”

The Seven Deadly Sins of Man appearing in the first chapter when you open the religious sanctuary. Lucy doesn’t believe in gods, so she doesn’t memorize them all, but… some knew

lower one’s gaze

Velbroke’s fangs, the sacrificial staff, and the apostles who were confident until just now. Those things caught my eye, but Lucy didn’t attach any special meaning to them.

Atheist, Lucy Mayrill.

She just gives a short sentence in a blank voice.

“Oman.”

Who is it that has come before your eyes? Even if all eight apostles gather, it is best to barely block it, a rare great wizard. Even six apostles came in the first place, and two were killed as soon as they arrived.

The rising magic power filled the chapel and went out.